There was a Diary up late yesterday I have to briefly respond to:
When I lived in rural Wyoming, the town council actively voted to keep business out
That is sad. I often talk about my little rural Illinois town. When I write about what we have done folks here from Portland, Seattle, New York City, Boston, San Fran are like "my gosh, you're town seems more progrssive then ours."
It all started about 15 years ago. Our Mayor and City Council, part time jobs. They were elected not because of their views or ideas, but because of their last name and a popularity contest.
Somebody along the way got the idea to pay a shit load to hire a professional city manager. He is very, very good at his job.
I now have bus and rail service. I have a billion dollar airport. Every public building is wired with fiber, thanks to Obama. The 21st best school district in the state. When he was hired we had 5,500 residents. 2010 Census 8,700. Bet 2020 more than 12,000.
And to your point about business. Main street used to be vacant, is now the exact opposite. It is vibrant. Boeing and Monsanto, not two of my favorite companies, have opened up shop in the last few years and hired 100s of people. At the far end of the corn field across the street from me, tens of thousands of acres, they are putting up 116 houses. For you all that live on the coast or in higher priced areas, you can buy a five bedroom house, two car attached garage, for $160,000.
Oh did I mention we have a 98% graduation rate. In an election where my city voted 63% for McCain over Obama we voted 74% to raise our taxes to build a new $60M highschool that is like something out of Star Trek.
Look I know your pain. My house almost burned down. Lived with my parents for six months in another small rural Illinois town. While there they sold the primary school to a church for $28,000. Tore down four huge buildings on Main Street, bulldozed. They had been without a tentate for so long they were viewed as health risks. A town that used to have industry. Factories my family worked at for generations gone. Nothing coming back. Nothing.
But I have my town that shows good is positive. All is not lost. I see it on a daily basis.